This invention relates to latch mechanism for doors and other closures of vehicles with particular application to the rear passenger doors of cars and light vehicle likely to be accessible to children in the vehicle but remote from immediate adult supervision. It is known to provide the latch mechanism with a child safety facility whereby the latch mechanism can be set to a child safety mode in which the door cannot be unlatched by use of the inside door handle or equivalent inside release facility when the door is shut, the setting means being rendered inaccessible by the closing of the door.
The object of the invention is to provide latch mechanism having a child safety facility which is of particularly simple construction requiring few components, which is economical to manufacture and assemble, and which is reliable and effective in use.
According to the invention there is provided a vehicle door latch mechanism having a child safety facility, and mechanism including a main actuating lever operable by an exterior handle of the door and/or a remotely controlled power actuator in use to release the mechanism for opening the door: an inside release lever operable by an interior handle of the door in use: and a child safety facility having setting means inaccessible when the door is closed for selectively enabling and disabling drive connection of the inside release lever with the main actuating lever: characterised in that said facility includes a drive dog slidingly engaged with an arm of one of said levers for movement longitudinally thereof between a drive position at which it co-acts with an arm of the other of said levers to transmit drive from the inside release lever to the main actuating lever and a disabling position at which it is clear of said arm, and a setting element linked to the dog for effecting said movement and operatively positioned so as to be accessible only when the door is opened.
Conveniently the dog is a slide block carried on an arm of the main actuating lever, and the inside release lever is pivoted for movement in a plane normal to the plane of the latter arm.
The setting element maybe a rotatable button incorporating a crank formation linked to the slide block or other drive dog and indexed for angular movement setting the dog at one or other said position.
Said button or other setting element maybe located on body or base plate of the latch mechanism, e.g. in the mouth of a throat formation of said body or base plate which receives the door post mounted striker with which the latch mechanism engages when the door is closed.